Taylor Backes Glass Art Gallery - Boyertown, PA
Posted by: 
Janila
N 40° 19.775 W 075° 38.254
18T E 445839 N 4464534
Totally unexpected gallery in little Boyertown PA. Get there at the right time and you may get to experience watching a glass blowing demonstration.
Waymark Code: WMZKY5
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 11/27/2018
Views: 3
As I was walking the streets of Boyertown to look for any of their multitude of fiberglass bears scattered throughout the town, I was totally startled to find this little hidden gallery. When I looked in the windows, I was surprised to see so many delicate glass art works and then I began to notice several glass sculptures scattered around outside the building. Unfortunately, I was not there during business hours but I will have to return, especially if someone I know has the sad circumstances of losing a loved one. It seems that this shop sells something they call "glass tears" which is described on their Glass Tears page (
visit link) :
"Randal Doaty was visiting with his longtime friend, Will Dexter, a local glass artist and owner of Taylor Backes Studios in Boyertown, Pennsylvania. Randy noticed a scrap of glass that had dripped to the floor during production. “I recall instantly thinking that it looked like a glass teardrop”, said Doaty. “But it didn’t really mean anything to me at that immediate point in time. But the concept remained in the back of my mind”.
Within days of seeing the odd shaped scrap of glass, Doaty learned that the father of a close friend would soon be admitted into a local hospice program with which Doaty was affiliated. Randy and his wife Cindy knew that the time would come when they would need a special sympathy gift for the loss. They sought something beyond the traditional gifts and condolences that merely acknowledge the pain of the loss. They were seeking an empathy gift.
Doaty returned to the glass studio with hopes of having a glass teardrop replicated as this special gift. Within days of receiving the prototype teardrop from the studio, Doaty penned the poem “Glass Tears”. The tear and the poem were given to his friend following the funeral and they were warmly received. In the years that followed, Glass Tears became a trademark gift for the Doaty’s and many other people in their community who had later purchased Glass Tears from the studio.
In 2008, Doaty and Dexter to meet increasing demands for the product created Glass Tears, Inc. Requests for accessories and other grief gift ideas soon led the company to begin full time operation and eventually launch the company’s website. Glass Tears are now being manufactured and shipped across the United States and into Canada to meet growing demands. "
Glass Tears are available at this gallery as well as about a half dozen other locations in the Berks and Montgomery county areas.